Chaeles heeemann



G. HERRMANN.

TELEGRAPH CALL BOX.

(No Model.)

Patented Dec. 9, 1884 N INVBNTOR WITNESSES N. PUERs Puma L lhngraphcn wmm. n. I;

UNITED STATES CHARLES HERRMANN, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

TELEGRAPH CALL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,897, dated December9, 1884.

Application filed February 23, 1884.

T 0 aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES HERRMANN, residing in the city, county, andState of New York,havc invented certain new and useful Improvements inTelegraph Gall-Boxes, of which the following is a description in suchfull, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any one skilled inthe art to which my invention belongs, or to which it most nearlyappertains, to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings,makin'g part of this specification, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon.

My invention more particularly relates to that form of call-box which iscapable of transmitting by arbitrary signals two or more calls to bereceived at a distant station orstations. Boxes of this kind which havebeen heretofore made have been very complicated and liable to get out oforder, and my present invention has in view the simplifying of themechanism and increasing the accuracy, convenience, durability, andcheapness of such multiple call-boxes.

Figure 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a front view, of my improvedcall-box.

In these figures, 37 37 is a metallic box or case, whichis attached toany convenient support by means of blocks of insulating material 38, 39,and 42. Vithin this case 37 is a system of gear-wheels and pinionspivoted in the frame 31 31. The spindle 47 carries the actuating-handle19, which is fashioned at its end into a pointer, 20, also the wheels 18and 21, and also the gear-wheel 49 and its cogpinion 46. Fitting looselyupon this same spindle 47 is the gear-wheel 27, carrying the pawl 45,which meshes in the ratchet-teeth on the circumference of the wheel 49.The gearwheel 27 meshes with a pinion on the armshaft of the toothedwheel 26, which, with the (No model.)

30 with the metallic case 37, and contact 24 is connected to thebinding-post 36 by means of a conductor, 32.

Upon the frame 13 is fastened, by the screw 11, which acts as a pivot,the bent lever 7,

pointed at one end, and held in tlieposition shown in the drawings bymeans of the spring 6, fastened to the other end thereof. The pointedend of the lever 7 rests over the pe riphery of the wheel 21.

Resting upon the lever 7, and near its end, as shown, is the bent lever8, which is pivoted on the screw 12. One arm, 16, of this last-mentionedbent lever projects up and between the wheels 18 and 21, and in theplane of the revolution of the pin 17, carried by and projectinglaterally from the wheel 21. The central part of this lever 8 iscam-shaped, and has upon its circumference a notch which engages the pin14, carried by the lever-7.

Bearing upon the under side of the lever 7, and arranged to slidelongitudinally in its bearings, is the push-pin 1, projecting outside ofthe case 37, and surrounded by the coiled spring 2.,

Riveted to the top of the pin 1 is the flat contact-spring 34. Thisspring, when in the position illustrated, rests upon the adjustablecontact 5, making electrical connection therewith. The adjustablecontact 5 is supported by an insulating block, 43. The spring 34 andcontact 5 are so adjusted that any slight variation in the elevation ofthe pin 1 will not break the electrical connection between these parts;but when the said pin is pushed up far enough to release the gear-train,as will be hereinafter explained, the electrical connection between thesaid spring and contact is disrupted. The contact 5 is connected bymeans of the conductor 33 to the binding-post 36. The binding-post 35forms a means of electri' cally connecting one of the line-wires to themetallic case 37.

The box which I have illustrated in the drawings forming part of thisspecification is capable of transmitting eight separate signals;

but it might as well be arranged to send many more.

I will now proceed to describe the operation of the box, as illustrated,containing the said eight calls, and designed to be located at sta- IOC)tion No. 114. The transmittingwheel 18 has its periphery cut into eightconsecutive teeth, then a space, then one tooth, then a space, then onetooth, then a space, then four teeth, then" a space to the first of theeight consecutive teeth already mentioned. An are of the periphery ofthe wheel 21 is cut into eight consecutive teeth, like those upon thetransmit ting-wheel 1S, and the remainder is plain. Vhen in their normalpositions the parts are, as illustrated in the drawings, spring 34resting on contact 5, and thus closing the line-circuit throughbinding-post 36, conductor 33, contact 5, spring 10, frame 37, andbinding post 35.

To send a call the handle 19 is turned in the direction of the arrowuntil the pointer 20 stands opposite the properletter. During thisoperation the teeth 4 and 1 and one on the wheel 18 pass under theroller 22 on-the spring 23, and when the pointer reaches the position onthe plate bearing the letters M E S S, one of the eight aforesaidconsecutive teeth has also passed under said roller. Vhen it has reachedthe word Police two teeth have passed, and so on. Now, when the first ofthese eight consecutive teeth on the wheel 18 have reached the roller22, theiirst of the eight corresponding teeth 011 the wheel 21 has comein contact with the pointed end of the lever 7, which snaps over them asthey pass, and prevents the gear-train reversing its motion when thehandle 19 is released. This handle being fastened to the pinion 47,turns the wheel 49 and gear-pinion 46, which communicates its motion tothe wheel 28, and thereby winds up the spring 42, attached to saidwheel, the pawl 45 riding over the ratchet-teeth on the wheel 49. Duringthis operation the electrical contact between the spring 34 and thescrew 5 has not yet been disrupted, and the box is, therefore, still outof circuit. When the pointer is set at the desired call, the pin 1 ispushed in, thereby lifting the spring 34 and breaking the contactbetween it and the adjustable screw 5. The current then flows frombinding-post 36, by conductor 32 to contact 24, spring 23. conductor 30to case 37 and binding-post 35; also, when the pin 1 is pushed up thestraight arm of the lever 7 is raised, and the bent arm of said leverdepressed, disengaging the pointed end from the teeth on the wheel 21,and also lifting the pin 14 out of its seat and tilting the lever 8, soas to cause the said pin to rest on the edge of the cam 15. The wheelsnow revolve under the action of the coiled spring 42, and as the teethon the wheel 18 pass under the roller 22 theyplift it and alternatelybreak and make the contact between the spring 23 and contact-point 24,thus transmitting a series of impulses over the line-wire to thereceivingstation, where a Morse receiver is placed, said impulsesindicating the number and position of the teeth which pass under theroller 22, and thereby the desired call and the number of the stationfrom which it is sent. This motion continues until the pin 17 pressesagainst the arm 16 of the lever 8, when the cam 15 turns sufficiently toallow the pin 14, actuated by the spring 6, to return to its seat onsaid cam, and at the same time the contact between the spring 34 andscrew 5 is reestablished, cutting the box out of circuit. The wheel 26and pendulum 29 form an escapement to retard 'the motion of the trainwhile the spring 42 is uncoiling, and this escapement is actuated by theloose wheel 27, which is in turn actuated by means of the pawl 45,attached thereto, which engages with the ratchet-teeth on the wheel 49when the same is turned with a left-handrevolution. The coiled spring 2tends to lift the pin 1, so that when said pin has been pushed in, andthelever-arm 7, resting on its top, raised and suspended, the said pinretains its elevated position after pressure is withdrawn from thebutton at its lower end, thereby keeping the spring 10 and contact 5 outof electrical connection and the box in circuit until the lever-armsfall and depress the pin, as I have hereinbefore explained. By means ofthis shunt the apparatus is never in circuit except while transmitting asignal.

It will be observed that the handle 19 is placed upon the main spindlecarrying the transmitting'wheels and the winding-pinion, and that theactuating-spring is carried upon a separate spindle operated by acog-wheel meshing in the teeth of the said winding-pinion. Thisarrangement eliminateslost motion and renders the mechanism more durableand etficient and less liable to get out of order.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In an electric call-boxcapable of transmitting a series of arbitrary signals, anotchedengaging-wheel, 21, and a pawl, 7, which operates to arrest and hold thetransmitting mechanism in any one of the several positions in which itmay be set, combined with a wheel for transmitting said signals, havingits periphery formed as described, and a push-pin, 1, proj ectingoutside the box, which operates to release the mechanism whichtransmitsthe signal, and at the same time automatically turns theline-circuit through the signaling mechanism, substantially as setforth.

2. In an electric call-box, the combination of a notched engaging-wheel,21, carrying a laterally-projecting pin, 17, a pawl, 7, engaging withsaid wheel, bearing a pin, 14, camlever 8, and'a push-pin, 1, projectingoutside the case of the box, substantially as described.

3. In an electric call-box, the combination of a notched engagingwheel,21, carrying a laterally-projecting pin, 17, a pawl, 7, engaging withsaid wheel, bearing a pin, 14, a camlever, 8, push-pin 1, spring 2, andcontacts 5 and 34, operated and combined substantially as described.

4. In an electric call-box operated by aclockwork mechanism and capableof transmitting a series of arbitrary signals, the transmittingmechanism, and a handle for winding up such mechanism and for indicatingthe signal to be transmitted, both mounted upon the same spindle,combined with a spiralspring for actuating such clock-work, mounted uponan independent spindle, substantially as set forth.

5. In an electric call-box, the combination of the escapement of agear-train with a spindle, 47, carrying a ratchetwheel, 49., a loosegear-wheel, 27, provided with a pawl, 45, notched engaging-wheel 21,pawl 7, engaging therein, combined with a push-pin, 1, project ingoutside of the box, substantially as described, for the purposespecified.

6. In an electric call-box, the combination of a pawl, 7, controllingthe action of the sig naling mechanism, with a push-pin, 1, spring 2,and contacts 34 and 5, by means of which I thelinecircuitisautomatically turned through CHARLES HERRMANN.

Vitnesses:

E. R. KNowLEs, J. EDGAR BULL.

